TIBET, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A black ground thangka of Vajrabhairava
Tibet, 18th century
Striding in alidhasana on prostrate figures, animals, and deities over a lotus base, holding a chopper and skull cup in his primary hands and an assortment of weapons in the others, adorned with a garland of severed heads and a naga wrapped across his chest, the primary face in the form of a bull with bared fangs and bulging eyes, the additional faces wrathful and surmounted by a skull tiara, backed by an aureole of flames, with Tsongkhapa above flanked by his students Gyaltsab and Khedrup all seated on clouds, with Shadbhuja Mahakala at bottom center flanked by Yama Dharmaraja and Palden Magzor Gyalmo, the wrathful form of Sarasvati, at bottom left and right
24¼ x 17½ (61.5 x 44.5 cm.)

Provenance

Acquired in Madrid, 1990s

Lot Essay

The worship of Vajrabhairava as a protector deity is common to all three of the new schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelugpa. However, the presence of Tsongkhapa at the top of the painting immediately identifies it as belonging to the latter school, as he is considered the founder of the Gelugpa tradition. Furthermore, Shadbhuja Mahakala and Yama Dharmaraja, present in the bottom center and left, respectively, are two of the three special protectors of Tsongkhapa. Finally, this form of Vajrabhairava, with three faces to either side and above the central bull's face is only found in the Gelugpa tradition, as it is based on a vision of the deity by Tsongkhapa himself.

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